Which appliances use the most electricity and drive up bills?
Find out which home appliances use the most electricity, why operating time matters, how Malaysia’s energy-efficiency star ratings work, and what else can affect your bill.
Source: SAYS Malaysia · October 9, 2026 at 11:32 PM · AI-assisted report
Single-sourcePENINSULAR MALAYSIA, 10 OCTOBER 2026 —
Tenaga Nasional Berhad has published a consumer guide identifying the household appliances that most drive electricity consumption in Peninsular Malaysia, highlighting how operating duration outweighs raw wattage in determining monthly bills and outlining the role of the national energy-efficiency labelling scheme in purchase decisions.
Market Impact
The guide, sponsored by the utility and distributed through SAYS Malaysia, arrives as households navigate an electricity-pricing framework in which generation-cost fluctuations — including fuel prices and foreign-exchange movements — can be passed through via the Automatic Fuel Adjustment mechanism, subject to applicable rules and exemptions, while consumers retain control only over usage volume and appliance efficiency.
Appliances that cool, heat, or operate for extended periods exert the largest influence on household electricity use, the guide states. Air conditioners, electric water heaters, clothes dryers, electric cooking appliances, refrigerators and freezers are listed as the first categories to examine when bills rise. Air conditioning combines relatively high power demand with long operating hours, and consumption varies with room size, cooling capacity, temperature setting, weather, insulation, maintenance and unit efficiency.
TNB recommends setting air-conditioner temperatures between 24°C and 26°C for efficient operation.
Heating water requires substantial energy, making electric water heaters another notable contributor. Instant water heaters draw high power while operating; storage heaters consume electricity both to heat water and to maintain its temperature. Longer showers, more occupants, or leaving a storage heater running for extended periods can all increase monthly consumption.
Refrigerators and freezers matter because their compressors cycle on and off around the clock to maintain selected temperatures; although instantaneous demand is lower, 24-hour operation makes them significant over time.
Appliances that create heat during use also draw substantial electricity while running. Clothes dryers use heat throughout the drying cycle. Electric ovens must preheat and then maintain high temperatures. Induction cookers and electric hobs can draw substantial power while cooking. Washing machines generally have a more moderate impact, though consumption depends on frequency of use, programme settings, load size and whether water is heated.
The guide illustrates the distinction between wattage and energy use: a kettle may have much higher wattage than a refrigerator but run for only two or three minutes, whereas the refrigerator cycles on and off 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Bills are based on kilowatt-hours rather than wattage alone.
A 1,000-watt appliance equals 1 kW; for appliances such as air conditioners and refrigerators, actual use varies because compressors cycle and may not draw full rated power continuously.
Household behaviour often explains consumption increases even when no new appliance has been added. "What has started running more often or for longer?" the guide asks, noting that small daily changes become significant when repeated across a month. Some electricity-cost changes originate outside the home: under the current pricing framework in Peninsular Malaysia, changes in generation costs can be reflected through mechanisms such as the Automatic Fuel Adjustment, subject to applicable rules and exemptions.
Consumers can control only how much electricity they use and how efficiently appliances are operated. Standby power from televisions, set-top boxes, gaming equipment, computers and some chargers contributes a small continuous draw, but the guide advises that if a bill has jumped noticeably, small standby loads are usually not the first place to look.
The Suruhanjaya Tenaga Energy Efficiency Label helps consumers compare the efficiency of similar regulated products. A higher star rating generally means better energy efficiency within the same product category. TNB recommends looking for 4- or 5-star energy-rated appliances where suitable, but cautions that the stars should not be used to compare completely different appliances. A 5-star air conditioner can still consume more electricity than a fan because cooling a room requires much more energy.
The rating indicates efficiency, not how little electricity the appliance will use regardless of size or operating hours.
For households with an activated smart meter, daily usage patterns available in the myTNB portal can show when electricity consumption increased. The data cannot identify the exact appliance responsible but can help narrow down what was happening in the home at that time. A fault that causes an appliance to run continuously or work harder than normal can increase consumption; refrigerators, freezers, air conditioners and water-heating systems are worth checking if their behaviour changes suddenly.
A fan generally uses much less electricity because it moves air rather than cooling with a compressor, though the two provide different levels of cooling and comfort. Age alone does not prove an appliance is causing an increase; operating hours, condition, maintenance, capacity and actual consumption should be checked first. Smart-meter data does not normally identify the individual appliance responsible.
Higher-rated products are more energy-efficient than comparable lower-rated ones, but actual running cost still depends on appliance size and usage duration. Apart from consumption, electricity costs can also be affected by changes in generation costs, including fuel prices and foreign-exchange movements, which are separate from household appliance efficiency.
The guide directs readers to further TNB resources on keeping electricity use at or below 800 kWh, calculating appliance kilowatt-hours, using the Home Energy Calculator, maximising savings with the Time of Use tariff by shifting consumption to off-peak hours, and evaluating whether Time of Use billing suits their household.
Related: Tenaga Nasional Berhad · SAYS Malaysia · Peninsular Malaysia